Mills retiring from post at Red Bay News
The Red Bay City Council passed a resolution at Monday night’s meeting honoring Red Bay News publisher LaVale Mills for her 20 years of dedicated service to the city of Red Bay.
Mills will be retiring from her position as publisher on Jan. 1, 2011 – a position Mills has held for 18 of the 20 years she has been with the Red Bay News.
The resolution stated that Mills “has always been a supporter of encouraging young people to read the newspaper, pay attention to the news to help shape the mental development of young people,” and she has “earned the respect for her exceptional abilities and tireless dedication to her community.”
The resolution concluded by resolving that Mills be honored as a “true treasure and jewel of the City of Red Bay.”
Mayor Bobby Forsythe and the council members each expressed their thanks to Mills for her many years of service and wished her well in her retirement.
In a letter Mills prepared before the meeting, she expressed how thankful she was to each business, industry and citizen that she had encountered during her time as publisher.
“Over the past two decades I have covered news events, special celebrations and ordinary events done in extraordinary ways in this town so dear to me heart,” she said.
Even though Mills will officially be retiring from the publisher position, she said that she will continue to write her weekly column and will continue to work on the monthly publication, Heritage.
“I am retiring as publisher, I am not retiring from Red Bay,” she said. “Our church is here, our doctors are here, we shop here and our grandchildren are here. We will always be in Red Bay.”
During her time as publisher, Mills has covered the terms of five different mayors and city councils and has received 26 writing awards from the Alabama Press Association and other noted associations.
She has also published three books and is in the process of writing a fourth.
After she retires, Mills will continue to be involved in her church, Red Bay First United Methodist; the Red Bay Garden Club; and she hopes to spend more time with her husband, Ruble; her daughter, Michelle; her daughter and son-in-law, Dawn and Matt Wilemon; and her grandchildren, Anna and Kennedy.
